II. What should we include in our description of a "standards-based" lesson?
Based on our brainstorming, the class will decide on four elements that we should include in our lesson descriptions:
Element
What does element include?
Why is this important?
1. Standards and Learning Outcomes
Standards are the broad goals that drive a sequence of lessons, while learning outcomes or objectives describe what students will be able to do at the end of the lesson.
Organizing the lesson around clear goals allows the teacher to know that students are engaged in meaningful learning.
2. Learning Environment
The arrangement of the classroom and the students. How was the teacher positioned relative to the students, and how were student grouped?
The arrangement of the room and students cues them on the teacher's behavior expectations.
3. Instructional Activities
Describes the opening, middle, and wrapup of the lesson. What did the teacher say to frame the activity, what did students do, and how did the teacher wrap up the lesson.
Students should understand why they are doing an activity, as well as what they were supposed to learn from the activity.
4. Your reflection on the lesson.
Did the activities address the objectives and the standards? Were the students engaged? What surprised you about the lesson?
Now consider yourself as a future teacher. What are your impressions of the lesson, and of standards-based instruction in general.
III. Choose a Lesson and Work Together to Describe it
Return to the RIDE list of example lessons. Submit the form below with your top three choices. You will be assigned a partner and a lesson.
View the lesson and read its lesson plan.
Click on the empty link in the table below and use the "EDC 102 Standards Based Lesson Descr" to begin your description.
After spending time observing a standards-based lesson video and reading its lesson plan, you were asked to reflect. Here are the thoughts of each group.
What did you notice about the Standards Based Lesson you described?
The SBL that we described is something that could seem boring to many students just because it doesn't really allow for any education based freedoms. People complain about these lessons because they don't understand that each student is tested on the same important information, so they can possibly try and retain as much information as possible.
What are your thoughts about SB Teaching?
It's a highly adhered to method of teaching, it's viewed as a time-tested approach, but we feel like some kids slip through the cracks and get even more discouraged and less likely to pursue a successful life later on when they;re out of school.
How do your group's views/concerns compare with what some teachers are saying about NCLB?
We feel like we agree with what the teachers are saying, and the fact that the government doesn't recognize the spectrum of the students' learning abilities is ridiculous. It's absurd to think that every student, disabilities or not, will learn, and test at the same rate with the same abilities.
How should you prepare to be an effective (and engaging) teacher?
Learn as many interesting games as awe can to make learning fun for the class. also, make testing something that isn't a big fear, but more of just a reality.
What did you notice about the Standards Based Lesson you described?
~We noticed the vocabulary interference (students did not know the meanign of the word, they would have to read around the text to understand)
~Used affective teaching methods like one on one with students that need extra help.
~Hands on activities to help children have a better understanding of a math lesson
What are your thoughts about SB Teaching?
~It works, activities work on the children. Its the Basic thing you need in teaching. It's the center to teachign your lesson to the class.
How do your group's views/concerns compare with what some teachers are saying about NCLB?
~Our view is you need to be aware of all the different backgrounds and no matter what you need to adapt to how htey learn. OUr biggest concerns is not being able to reach every target.
How should you prepare to be an effective (and engaging) teacher?
~ Fallow the standard based lessons! Organize your time, prepare for your class, know how to deal with different situations, know about special needs students, and make ti a fun, hands-on learning experience for the students.
Discuss the following questions, allowing everyone to share their views:
What did you notice about the Standards Based Lesson you described?
They all used hands on learning to help engage the students
They activities required everyone to participate
They incorporated other students' background to make them feel welcomed.
What are your thoughts about SB Teaching?
It helps when you have guidelines to follow
Helps keep the students on track with their learning
Ensures that everyone is learning the same things.
How do your group's views/concerns compare with what some teachers are saying about NCLB?
Refine it so that it is not so strict
What happens when there is no more room for improvement?
It should be more flexible
It's unfair because not every student is at the same level.
How should you prepare to be an effective (and engaging) teacher?
Include all students
Get personal with all students to make sure their needs are met and they feel welcomed
Do hands on activities to engage the students
relate it to something the students can understand and are familiar with.
What did you notice about the Standards Based Lesson you described?
The Standard Based Lessons that we described gave us boundaries but allowed us to create and use some of our own ideas. They provided us with a base that we could build up on.
-Courtney - cwa9023
After reviewing the standard based lessons, it was interesting to see how broad the standards had become. They definitely help the teacher make a schedule for the entire semester, but it also allows them to be extremely flexible with their lesson plans. -Connor - ccapizzano
What are your thoughts about SB Teaching?
I like the idea. I like how I am given something to base my teaching off of but which allows me some flexibility
-courtney- cwa9023
Standard based teaching is a great idea because it is teaching students the necessary skills they need. Without these standards, students would not have the proper knowledge to take future classes because the teachers were not on the same page. For example, a general chemistry teacher without any standards could teach thermodynamics to the class, while the general chemistry II teacher could focus more on electron configuration. -Connor - ccapizzano
How do your group's views/concerns compare with what some teachers are saying about NCLB?
I am concerned with how NCLB will affect my teaching and my overall career but I know that new rules and regulations are coming out for teachers to follow all the time. As teachers it is our responsibility to to the new rules. I don't know if i really agree with the rules and regulations that NCLB requires.
-courtney- cwa9023
Personally, I am split between both sides of the issue. NCLB was a great way to help underprivileged students become better than they were because they were given goals that they strived for. Yet, NCLB has lowered the bar for the students who perform better than most students. As a result, these students are not challenged as much and their performance might even decline because they are bored. One main point is that every year schools are expected to perform to some level of proficiency per year. Therefore, these schools continue to raise their standards every year so that the state recognizes them as making yearly progress. In a matter of years, however, these schools will be performing to the best of their ability but the state will label them as not making yearly progress. Where is a school to go if it already the best it is? -Connor - ccapizzano
How should you prepare to be an effective (and engaging) teacher?
I should know, as a teacher, what NCLB means and how I need to be aware of it in my teaching. I should be able to prepare my students according to the new standards while still teaching no just based on the testing requirements
-courtney- cwa9023
In order to be an effective teacher, you should know your material to the pin. Not to say teachers aren't educated but by knowing the information extremely well, the teacher will have an easier time communicating concepts to students. For example, you can have a teacher who reads off notes and writes information on the board and that will result in the class sleeping. On the other hand, you can have a teacher who knows what they are talking about and use real life examples to keep the class interested. -Connor - ccapizzano
What did you notice about the Standards Based Lesson you described?
The children were very engaged in the lessons. The lessons were all related to real world situations that helped to hook and hold the childrens interest. The teachers were there with the children to guide them, not to solve problems for them. Teaching was used to just help guide the children in the right direction, but the teachers made the students solve the problems themselves. Group-work was also present, along with complete class participation, which was interesting to see how each student was asked to make a contribution.
What are your thoughts about SB Teaching?
SB Teaching is very official and also very effective. By having standards or goals, the teacher and students have to work for a certain goal. It also makes all sutdents work for the same standard so the all get a fair and similar education. The standard can be reached at different times, and it is what the student makes of it. Somtimes students just try and meet the standards to pass school, where as others work as hard as they can to exceed the standards and learn more than required.
How do your group's views/concerns compare with what some teachers are saying about NCLB?
We agree with her concerns and views to a great extent. Not all students can fit the same mold and pass the same tests, because each child is different and each has different learning styles. It's extremely hard for every school to make progress because sometimes you just can't. Sooner or later every school is going to have high performing children and they arent going to be able to improve at such a high rate as before, which doesnt seem fair. We also agree on her view on good teacher/ bad teacher. NCLB is something that can be effective is some changes are made and some requirements are altered.
How should you prepare to be an effective (and engaging) teacher?
have a lesson plan
prepare effectively
more than one way of teaching (visuals, technology, whiteboard, worksheets, etc.)
Discuss the following questions, allowing everyone to share their views:
What did you notice about the Standards Based Lesson you described?
Vocab (Andrea)- Not everyone participated, seating arrangment may have caused people not paying attention. The context the teachers used was effective for teaching the kids themeaning of each word.
Thoughtshots (Ariana)- Positive- the class was very willing to participate. Students read a book together and were very engaged and eager to participate in the conversation.
Legos (Jessica)- I liked that the teacher used a less common method of teaching the same standard. She picked out familiar (fun) materiels that would engage the students.
What are your thoughts about SB Teaching?
Different learning styles are not always covered with SBT.
When only "teaching to the test" other life skills and important lessons are sometimes not covered.
Puts pressure on teachers to teach lessons that the may not have planned on teaching or wanted to teach. Gives them less time to cover lessons that may interest them more, or that they may be specialized in.
Gives the teacher a plan of teaching to follow.
Keeps the teachers on an equal playing field all working towards the same goal for each stage of learning.
Students are aware of precisely what is expected of them.
After listening to the teachers in class:
How do your group's views/concerns compare with what some teachers are saying about NCLB?
Our thoughts regarding issues of inequality closely matched the views expressed by the teacher. For example teaching different students to pass the same test does not reflect on the aspects that teachers have to struggle with in different populations (behavioral, learning ability, socio-economic background, parental involvement)
A point we had not brought up was that teachers were not involved in developing the mandates that they would have to teach to.
How should you prepare to be an effective (and engaging) teacher?
We should take extra measures to focus on assessment courses. Take time to learn about the backgrounds (learning styles, customes and ---) so that you can appropriately guide students toward a common goal. Take time to get to know the students, not put themselves 'above' the students and become someone that the students will want to listen to.
Describing A Standards-Based Lesson
I. How should we prepare to describe a Standards-Based Lesson.
II. What should we include in our description of a "standards-based" lesson?
III. Choose a Lesson and Work Together to Describe it
Dan
IV. What Are Our Impressions of Standards-Based Instruction?
A. Early Impressions
You were asked to view and react to a videorecording of a SBDL at the beginning of this project. Here are your thoughts:B. Informed Reflections
After spending time observing a standards-based lesson video and reading its lesson plan, you were asked to reflect. Here are the thoughts of each group.Group Reactions to Standards Based Lessons
What did you notice about the Standards Based Lesson you described?
The SBL that we described is something that could seem boring to many students just because it doesn't really allow for any education based freedoms. People complain about these lessons because they don't understand that each student is tested on the same important information, so they can possibly try and retain as much information as possible.What are your thoughts about SB Teaching?
It's a highly adhered to method of teaching, it's viewed as a time-tested approach, but we feel like some kids slip through the cracks and get even more discouraged and less likely to pursue a successful life later on when they;re out of school.How do your group's views/concerns compare with what some teachers are saying about NCLB?
We feel like we agree with what the teachers are saying, and the fact that the government doesn't recognize the spectrum of the students' learning abilities is ridiculous. It's absurd to think that every student, disabilities or not, will learn, and test at the same rate with the same abilities.How should you prepare to be an effective (and engaging) teacher?
Learn as many interesting games as awe can to make learning fun for the class. also, make testing something that isn't a big fear, but more of just a reality.Group members present:
Recorder receives 3 pts EC; Participants receive 2 pts EC for complete answers.Group Reactions to Standards Based Lessons
What did you notice about the Standards Based Lesson you described?
~We noticed the vocabulary interference (students did not know the meanign of the word, they would have to read around the text to understand)~Used affective teaching methods like one on one with students that need extra help.
~Hands on activities to help children have a better understanding of a math lesson
What are your thoughts about SB Teaching?
~It works, activities work on the children. Its the Basic thing you need in teaching. It's the center to teachign your lesson to the class.How do your group's views/concerns compare with what some teachers are saying about NCLB?
~Our view is you need to be aware of all the different backgrounds and no matter what you need to adapt to how htey learn. OUr biggest concerns is not being able to reach every target.How should you prepare to be an effective (and engaging) teacher?
~ Fallow the standard based lessons! Organize your time, prepare for your class, know how to deal with different situations, know about special needs students, and make ti a fun, hands-on learning experience for the students.Group members present: Kimberly, Sarah, Pam, Dan
Recorder receives 3 pts EC; Participants receive 2 pts EC for complete answers.Group Reactions to Standards Based Lessons
Discuss the following questions, allowing everyone to share their views:What did you notice about the Standards Based Lesson you described?
They all used hands on learning to help engage the studentsThey activities required everyone to participate
They incorporated other students' background to make them feel welcomed.
What are your thoughts about SB Teaching?
It helps when you have guidelines to followHelps keep the students on track with their learning
Ensures that everyone is learning the same things.
How do your group's views/concerns compare with what some teachers are saying about NCLB?
Refine it so that it is not so strictWhat happens when there is no more room for improvement?
It should be more flexible
It's unfair because not every student is at the same level.
How should you prepare to be an effective (and engaging) teacher?
Include all studentsGet personal with all students to make sure their needs are met and they feel welcomed
Do hands on activities to engage the students
relate it to something the students can understand and are familiar with.
Group members present:
Recorder receives 3 pts EC; Participants receive 2 pts EC for complete answers.Group Reactions to Standards Based Lessons
What did you notice about the Standards Based Lesson you described?
The Standard Based Lessons that we described gave us boundaries but allowed us to create and use some of our own ideas. They provided us with a base that we could build up on.
-Courtney -
After reviewing the standard based lessons, it was interesting to see how broad the standards had become. They definitely help the teacher make a schedule for the entire semester, but it also allows them to be extremely flexible with their lesson plans. -Connor -
What are your thoughts about SB Teaching?
I like the idea. I like how I am given something to base my teaching off of but which allows me some flexibility-courtney-
Standard based teaching is a great idea because it is teaching students the necessary skills they need. Without these standards, students would not have the proper knowledge to take future classes because the teachers were not on the same page. For example, a general chemistry teacher without any standards could teach thermodynamics to the class, while the general chemistry II teacher could focus more on electron configuration. -Connor -
How do your group's views/concerns compare with what some teachers are saying about NCLB?
I am concerned with how NCLB will affect my teaching and my overall career but I know that new rules and regulations are coming out for teachers to follow all the time. As teachers it is our responsibility to to the new rules. I don't know if i really agree with the rules and regulations that NCLB requires.-courtney-
Personally, I am split between both sides of the issue. NCLB was a great way to help underprivileged students become better than they were because they were given goals that they strived for. Yet, NCLB has lowered the bar for the students who perform better than most students. As a result, these students are not challenged as much and their performance might even decline because they are bored. One main point is that every year schools are expected to perform to some level of proficiency per year. Therefore, these schools continue to raise their standards every year so that the state recognizes them as making yearly progress. In a matter of years, however, these schools will be performing to the best of their ability but the state will label them as not making yearly progress. Where is a school to go if it already the best it is? -Connor -
How should you prepare to be an effective (and engaging) teacher?
I should know, as a teacher, what NCLB means and how I need to be aware of it in my teaching. I should be able to prepare my students according to the new standards while still teaching no just based on the testing requirements-courtney-
In order to be an effective teacher, you should know your material to the pin. Not to say teachers aren't educated but by knowing the information extremely well, the teacher will have an easier time communicating concepts to students. For example, you can have a teacher who reads off notes and writes information on the board and that will result in the class sleeping. On the other hand, you can have a teacher who knows what they are talking about and use real life examples to keep the class interested. -Connor -
Group members present:
Recorder receives 3 pts EC; Participants receive 2 pts EC for complete answers.Group Reactions to Standards Based Lessons
What did you notice about the Standards Based Lesson you described?
The children were very engaged in the lessons. The lessons were all related to real world situations that helped to hook and hold the childrens interest. The teachers were there with the children to guide them, not to solve problems for them. Teaching was used to just help guide the children in the right direction, but the teachers made the students solve the problems themselves. Group-work was also present, along with complete class participation, which was interesting to see how each student was asked to make a contribution.What are your thoughts about SB Teaching?
SB Teaching is very official and also very effective. By having standards or goals, the teacher and students have to work for a certain goal. It also makes all sutdents work for the same standard so the all get a fair and similar education. The standard can be reached at different times, and it is what the student makes of it. Somtimes students just try and meet the standards to pass school, where as others work as hard as they can to exceed the standards and learn more than required.How do your group's views/concerns compare with what some teachers are saying about NCLB?
We agree with her concerns and views to a great extent. Not all students can fit the same mold and pass the same tests, because each child is different and each has different learning styles. It's extremely hard for every school to make progress because sometimes you just can't. Sooner or later every school is going to have high performing children and they arent going to be able to improve at such a high rate as before, which doesnt seem fair. We also agree on her view on good teacher/ bad teacher. NCLB is something that can be effective is some changes are made and some requirements are altered.How should you prepare to be an effective (and engaging) teacher?
Group members present:
Recorder receives 3 pts EC; Participants receive 2 pts EC for complete answers.Group Reactions to Standards Based Lessons
What did you notice about the Standards Based Lesson you described?
What are your thoughts about SB Teaching?
How do your group's views/concerns compare with what some teachers are saying about NCLB?
How should you prepare to be an effective (and engaging) teacher?
Group members present:
Recorder receives 3 pts EC; Participants receive 2 pts EC for complete answers.Group Reactions to Standards Based Lessons
Discuss the following questions, allowing everyone to share their views:What did you notice about the Standards Based Lesson you described?
Vocab (Andrea)- Not everyone participated, seating arrangment may have caused people not paying attention. The context the teachers used was effective for teaching the kids themeaning of each word.Thoughtshots (Ariana)- Positive- the class was very willing to participate. Students read a book together and were very engaged and eager to participate in the conversation.
Legos (Jessica)- I liked that the teacher used a less common method of teaching the same standard. She picked out familiar (fun) materiels that would engage the students.
What are your thoughts about SB Teaching?
Different learning styles are not always covered with SBT.When only "teaching to the test" other life skills and important lessons are sometimes not covered.
Puts pressure on teachers to teach lessons that the may not have planned on teaching or wanted to teach. Gives them less time to cover lessons that may interest them more, or that they may be specialized in.
Gives the teacher a plan of teaching to follow.
Keeps the teachers on an equal playing field all working towards the same goal for each stage of learning.
Students are aware of precisely what is expected of them.
After listening to the teachers in class:
How do your group's views/concerns compare with what some teachers are saying about NCLB?
Our thoughts regarding issues of inequality closely matched the views expressed by the teacher. For example teaching different students to pass the same test does not reflect on the aspects that teachers have to struggle with in different populations (behavioral, learning ability, socio-economic background, parental involvement)A point we had not brought up was that teachers were not involved in developing the mandates that they would have to teach to.
How should you prepare to be an effective (and engaging) teacher?
We should take extra measures to focus on assessment courses. Take time to learn about the backgrounds (learning styles, customes and ---) so that you can appropriately guide students toward a common goal. Take time to get to know the students, not put themselves 'above' the students and become someone that the students will want to listen to.Group members present:
Recorder receives 3 pts EC; Participants receive 2 pts EC for complete answers.